yesterday i dropped my fabia off at a garage for an mot, i knew the handbrake wasnt working properly and there was a minor leak on the rocker cover noticed last week, checked oil and it was between min and max so topped up on level ground until job done as it needed an oil and filter change anyway so was doing it with the mot.

 

so i dropped it off at a local garage after driving home from liverpool ish 20 odd miles at 70 on motorway and 60 down east lancs, it ran as it always did.... sweet ( had car since 32,000 miles and its now 76,000 over 6 years and regular oil and filter change and work when needed, it has been no trouble and done 400mile trips to scotland in it on occasion.

 

i asked for mot and sort the oil rocker cover gasket, heard nothing went this morning and he says it failed badly on emissions, and handbrake was not working well, he said it was misfiring and i said they sometimes do when ticking over its common just misses the odd beat but has done that for the last six years and Skoda said its to do with emission levels on tick over. ihe said he couldnt do any work on it for 2 weeks now they were chocka ( changed his tune as i booked it in for the jobs 3 days previously, i said id take it away to get the jobs done and he went to get it out of the garage and it wouldnt start.  ( absolutely no problems when i dropped it off) eventually they fiddled and got it running but it now runs like a stuck pig limping with a spear through its belly, WTF!

I said it wasn't right and i asked if something went wrong during the emissions test they said no it was like that when they started it? ??? 

Any ideas, i know when i mentioned the leak on the rocker cover the guy said sometimes you can just tighten them down a bit and they are fine, but seeing as i like the car and look after it i said i didnt mind doing the gasket or whatever properly, so my point is has anyone any idea what the heck happened i cant see there being no warning signs of something like that, like the odd miss fire or cut out or something, it now drives like and 80s car would if the timing had slipped or the distributer was to far retarded or something. ??? 

its at another garage now of a friends uncle who is going to examine it and see whats what but am i wrong in thinking someone seems to have screwed something up at the first garage, who apparently have a good reputation but i have never used them before.

Edited 24 May, 201610 yr by puddlehopper

The coil pack might have failed but you really need to get it scanned for fault codes.

 

The MPI is known for having a bit of a lumpy idle but it is not caused by misfiring.

Did they give you a print with the emissions test results ? My MPI required a new cat, but I fitted an used 2009 VW Jetta one (1.6 petrol) and it should need a new O2 probe, but my emissions are now pretty much legal. 

Thanks TMB coil pack may be i dont know yet the independent garage guy is putting it on laptop sometime soon to diagnose the problem.

 

not sure of the emissions readings Alexandru they are with the mot fail sheet on the passenger seat at the garage, to be honest i didnt look as he said it was really over the limit.

 

my main concern is that it was running perfectly normal and then when he gave it me back it was really bad, someone suggested valves sticking but will have to wait and see the results, i was wondering if he tried to tighten the rocker cover down to stop the leak as a cheep cowboy fix and if that had caused problems and he just said he never did anything and it started like that. i told him i wanted a rocker cover gasket  and a proper job rather than a cheap fix, i know its an old car but its been well looked after and only has 76000 miles and its reliable and a better drive than a lot of the cars ive test driven for my Fiance this week from garage forecourts.

 

not a good week for cars this week her corsa seized with an oil pump malfunction Saturday and was scrap so needed a new car and just as we get one sorted mine goes pop, oh and some git pulled out on my daughter and wrote off her bike on top of it (shes ok though thankfully )

 

so im hoping for good news as taking it on the chin transport wise is getting tedious this week  lol... 

 

on the bright side it only failed on handbrake and a tire (apart from the emissions fiasco)

Edited 25 May, 201610 yr by puddlehopper

The coil pack might have failed but you really need to get it scanned for fault codes.

 

The MPI is known for having a bit of a lumpy idle but it is not caused by misfiring.

Yes i like that odd jiggly thing its got going on, it was weird at first but now it stops me falling asleep waiting for the lights to change

lol

Get that emissions test results. It would be a good lead to investigate what is wrong with it.

Yes i like that odd jiggly thing its got going on, it was weird at first but now it stops me falling asleep waiting for the lights to change

lol

 

i got a call from the garage guy today he said it was complicated, and then proceeded to explain......... it was running on two cylinders he said he tested the coil pack and it was fine getting sparks  etc but found a tube that had perished and taken a photo of which he replaced while he was at it, he took out the spark plugs and they didn't look brilliant so he replaced them replaced the coil pack and still two cylinders only, after that he tried a few other things he tested the injectors and they were fine but he cleaned them anyways while they were off and checked them  again but still only 2 cyls, so he got worried and checked the compression of the cylinders... he said all 4  were good not just good but very good and seemed really pleased that they were all an even 220 so he said he was stumped because when it was all back and done it still only ran on two cylinders so he tested the coil pack again and it was good and then it wasn't and then it was if you get me anyway all in all it was the coil pack in the end but intermittent however i have fully serviced injectors and new plugs and coil pack and had a compression test that tells me im good for another 70,000, havent seen the car yet as im still at work but it should be ok for the emissions now its stopped flushing 2 cylinders worth of petrol down the exhaust and my mpg should be back up to 30 and 55 respectively thanks for the help guys btw the bill was £242.00 with all the testing and labour and parts and to be fair i think that its not a bad price i probably would have lost an arm at RRG lol

Good result there, and great to see that there are still garages who can root cause problems like this without charging the earth. While bills like that can be quite a shock at times for us "economy" motorists, in reality it only adds £4.80 a week to running costs if considered over 12 months motoring.

Oooh I was right